Medal of Honor Impressions

Share.

The best way to blow up a machine gun nest.

By Charles Onyett

Setting a game in the theatre of modern war may not be particularly novel anymore, but for EA's long-running Medal of Honor franchise it's a first. Since the glory days of the original and Allied Assault the franchise has branched out from consoles to PCs to handheld systems. As with any brand, excessive iteration leads to exhaustion . Eventually the quality suffers, consumers lose interest, and the name is quietly packed up and sealed away in the vast halls of retired intellectual properties. So will EA Los Angeles and DICE's new game, the subtitle-less Medal of Honor, be able to re-energize the franchise? From what we've seen so far, it certainly looks to be a wild ride.

EA Los Angeles is concentrating on the single-player story mode, while Battlefield developer DICE is building the online component. Over the course of production the two studios have been in constant communication regarding development and testing, but there's no word yet on the multiplayer content or gameplay systems. I think we can all assume there will be guns that shoot bullets, but beyond that I've got nothing to report.

The good news about the single-player portion is that the content is all built. That means the team is spending the time between now and its Medal of Honor's October release date polishing the experience so it can, hopefully, be smooth and bug-free. From what was shown off in a recent single-player hands-off demo, what's in place is already impressive. Set in modern day Afghanistan, the game follows elite U.S. armed forces members as they tangle with hostiles far behind enemy lines. Perspective skips between multiple playable characters, and for this particular demo it was a squad of six Rangers. For your loadout, you can swap between shotgun and scoped assault rifle, and can also pick up and use the weapons of enemies. Should you run low on ammunition, you can call on a squadmate to replenish your reserves.

The mission begins in broad daylight as the Rangers advance on a hillside town. The terrain is detailed and realistically messy, with stone houses jutting up from the ground that look worn and dusty. Time spent admiring the scenery is cut short since as soon as the squad closes in on the town, hostiles jump from windows and doors and the fight is underway. The AI-controlled squad members scream and scatter. Taking up positions behind broken walls, pushing forward into the fray and pegging targets with bullets, your companions may not be under your control, but seem adept at clearing the area, as you might expect from what are meant to be trained soldiers.

Bullets whiz and whine from all directions, and should you take damage you'll find the game employs a familiar regenerative health system. To avoid getting pegged with bullets you can go prone to duck behind a piece of cover or post up next to an edge, lean out, and aim down the sights to cut down an attacker. Within the town setting there's a direct path forward, but also enough room on the sides of the combat zone to accommodate sneakier players who prefer a flanking maneuver to a bullish assault right down the middle. With squadmates serving as distractions, this allows you to move up behind unsuspecting enemies for a surprise headshot or close range knife thrust.

What's especially impressive about this sequence is the way everything moves and sounds. Enemies hop from windows and dart between positions with animations that convey a sense of realistic weight. The echoes of rifle fire reverberate off the surroundings. Squadmates bellow out enemy positions as more join the fray. Reload animations are detailed, weapon fire pops with power, and dust clouds kick up as cover positions are chipped away by large caliber rounds.